that circulate in our veins were magnified enough million times, we
might see a globe teeming with life and power. Such is this earth
of ours, coursing in the veins of the Infinite. Size is only
relative, and the imagination finds no end to the series either
way.



III

Looking out of the car window one day, I saw the pretty and unusual
sight of an eagle sitting upon the ice in the river, surrounded by
half a dozen or more crows. The crows appeared as if looking up to
the noble bird and attending his movements. "Are those its young?"
asked a gentleman by my side. How much did that man know--not
about eagles, but about Nature? If he had been familiar with geese
or hens, or with donkeys, he would not have asked that question.
The ancients had an axiom that he who knew one truth knew all
truths; so much else becomes knowable when one vital fact is
thoroughly known. You have a key, a standard, and cannot be
deceived. Chemistry, geology, astronomy, natural history, all
admit one to the same measureless interiors.

I heard a great man say that he could see how much of the theology
of the day would fall before the standard of him who had got even
the insects. And let any one set about studying these creatures
carefully, and he will see the force of the remark. We learn the
tremendous doctrine of metamorphosis from the insect world; and
have not the bee and the ant taught man wisdom from the first? I
was highly edified the past summer by observing the ways and doings